Edinburgh from Blackford Hill

Image: © kim traynor Taken: 4 Aug 2012

This image, featuring the Castle and the ridge of the Old Town, is part of a larger view which can be seen by using the 'More sizes' button above the frame. "The city of Edinburgh is situated in fifty-five degrees, fifty seven minutes of north latitude, and of longitude three degrees, fourteen minutes west from London. The ground upon which it is built is perhaps as singular, and in many respects inconvenient, as can well be figured. The Palace of Holyroodhouse, the eastmost boundary of the city, stands on a plain within two miles of the River Forth, from which it rises by a gradual ascent of ninety-four feet from the high-water mark. From Holyrood-house there begins the narrow point, or, if we may be allowed the expression, the tail of a hill, which gradually extending itself in breadth, rises in a steep and straight ridge, from which its shelving sides decline; the ridge terminating in an abrupt precipice, the site of the castle, at the distance of a mile in length, and one hundred and eighty feet in height from Holyroodhouse." -- Hugo Arnot, The History of Edinburgh, 1799

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